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Sustainable Sincerity

Our upcoming Green Scene ("Mayan Marvel," September 2010) contains helpful tips on how to detect greenwashing when perusing "organic" product labels. That's when companies try to unjustifiably tout a product's environmental virtues.

As John Vater, co-ower of Spa Adriana in Huntington, New York, warns, "The big print giveth and the small print taketh away."

Here's some information about avoiding this pitfall:

Read labels with a discriminating eye.
John and his wife, co-owner Adriana Vater, caution spa professionals against taking a product label at face value. "If the packaging claims it doesn't contain something, you should ask yourself what's there to do that ingredient's job," Adriana says. "Every component of a product has a purpose, and sometimes a so-called 'green' ingredient is just as offensive as the original."
Educate yourself.
The Vaters say it's important to develop an understanding of how product ingredients work. "With today's Internet access, you can quickly look up the chemical composition of any item," John says.

It's not always easy going green. How do you ensure that your spa's environmental initiatives result in real, positive change? Send your ideas to Katie O'Reilly, associate editor, at koreilly@creativeage.com.

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Breast Cancer Awareness

Providing treatments that cater to breast cancer patients is one way to care for this clientele. Here's how one spa puts education at the forefront of its BCA efforts.

As any massage therapist knows, cancer is usually taught to be a contraindication. Thus, spa professionals are cautioned against treating these clients. In fact, when breast cancer patients began coming to Marlys Brovold, she wasn't sure what to do—but she didn't turn anyone away.

"I went through breast cancer myself, so I know what it's like to have the scars and everything," says the owner and lead therapist of Perfect Little Spa and Salon in St. Paul, Minnesota. "Scars hold memories, and they're not always good ones—especially with cancer. So we decided that we needed to help people out."

Brovold and her staff enrolled in massage classes geared specifically for cancer patients at Northwestern Health Science University in Bloomington, Minnesota. The facility now offers post-mastectomy massage services and has created a brochure that educates spa-goers on how to properly perform a breast self-exam. "I had a lot of bad memories when I went through breast cancer. It was at a time when it was a big secret, and you didn't mention the 'C word,'" Brovold says. "I want my clients to know that there are some comforts along the way, and they should take advantage of them."

—Kelly Granger

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